Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio needs to get a win in Iowa City today to keep the Spartans in contention for a Big Ten championship this season.Mike Mulholland | MLive.com

Michigan State can only hope turnabout is fair play when it comes to today's noon showdown with Iowa at rowdy Kinnick Stadium.

The Hawkeyes (4-1) spoiled homecoming for the Spartans (3-1) last year in East Lansing, scoring a 19-16 double-overtime victory that proved to be a sign of things to come for Michigan State in the 2012 campaign.

It was the first of four losses in which Michigan State's highly acclaimed defense failed to hold up in the fourth quarter of a game the Spartans were leading or tied in last season.

An interception that came off the hands of a Michigan State receiver in the second overtime sealed Iowa's victory last season. It served as no consolation that the tipped pass was not counted among the Michigan State receiving corps' 66 dropped passes in the 2012 season.

This time around, with an ESPN2 television audience looking in, it's the Hawkeyes' homecoming. Iowa enters as a slight favorite to run its homecoming record under Coach Kirk Ferentz to 12-3 and keep their all-time homecoming record against Michigan State (6-0-1) unblemished.

Spartans coach Mark Dantonio suggested his team's Big Ten opener represents a second start to the season of sorts -- as well as a chance to establish itself as the championship team it believes it can be this season.

"I think we've gained some confidence in certain aspects of our football team from our experience down at Notre Dame,'' said Dantonio, referring to the 17-13 loss to the Irish on Sept. 21. "Any time you start the Big Ten season, your first game is going to set you up for the next game and the next game. Sort of begins to set the table for you as a Big Ten contender and in the Legends Division.

"It gives us an opportunity to go play on the road again, prove ourselves again on the road. Another opportunity, I think, for Connor Cook to grow as a quarterback and our football team to grow.''

Michigan State's QB situation appears to have finally settled, with Cook set to start his fourth consecutive game and fifth-year senior Andrew Maxwell and redshirt freshman Tyler O'Connor relegated to battling it out for the back-up role.

Neither team has changed its script since last season's physical affair.

Iowa – which won its Big Ten opener over Minnesota last week -- looks to pound the ball on offense with 6-foot, 236-pound junior tailback Mark Weisman. Defensively, the Hawkeyes will utilize their array of zone coverage schemes to confuse Cook while being careful not to allow Spartans receivers to slip behind them on deep routes.

"You're not going to see them going in and out of their defense and changing from year to year. They're going to be who they are,'' said Dantonio, who's 2-4 all-time against Ferentz and has lost three of the past four meetings. " I think on the offensive side of the ball, they do the same thing a little bit. They say this is who we are, this is what we're going to do.''

Michigan State, meanwhile, hopes Cook has progressed enough as a passer to provide some balance to the offense.

The Spartans' defense, ranked No. 1 nationally, will fill the box in an effort to stuff the run while trusting standout cornerbacks Darqueze Dennard and Trae Waynes in tight, man-to-man coverage.

"I think Iowa is a team that wants to try to out-physical you, and we're a defense that wants to out-physical you,'' Michigan State middle linebacker Max Bullough said. "So it's always a good battle between us and Iowa, and I think they would admit that too.''